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Saturday, March 17, 2012

Portugal Days 3 and 4

On Tuesday, our third day in Portugal we stayed in Lisboa and visited the monastery of Jeronimos. A giant monastery that stretches imposingly along the shore line. It was quietly beautiful with arched ceilings and architecture in the Manueline style.

Afterwards we ate at a cool sandwich shop that literally had sandwiches in every style possible. Qix and I ordered falafel which was very delish. In the evening we went to the largest mall in Portugal and Spain. It was massive. We wandered around in a daze popping into various shops until we took an espresso break. Qix and I became fans of their national custard pastry call pastel de nata and took every opportunity to eat some!

On Wednesday our legs were beginning to ache so we decided to take the day a bit slower. We clambered aboard a small trolley, in a teeny tiny alley, crammed full full of tourists to an area called Chiado. At the top was a beautiful lookout point with a man selling his canvas paintings. Naturally, we could not resist purchasing some of his exquisite artwork!

Our journey then took us to Sao Roque, a catholic church. The inside was breathtaking, and we probably would have meandered around if not for the service in progress. It was quite serious, lots of prayer and singing involved, and may have been more interesting had we been able to understand it, but instead it was hilarious to listen too. Everyone with their solemn faces and voices droning on in chants.

With much regret, we left the priest and his followers to go to the ruins of a convent. The convent arches towered above us in an open ceiling. It is amazing how ornate and incredibly huge the convent was. Qix got to see her first mummy on display there!